Month 33: No Problem. I Got It Covered

And indeed she does. I only notice Itty Bitty’s pottying habits when she calls upon me to assist with “Messy Poo” wiping, if the fan needs to be turned on because she left a toxic cloud, public toileting, or to clean up an epic mess she can’t handle herself. There were two mishaps this month:

Jun 7
Itty Bitty had a gigantic miss today. The thing is she was in the bathroom in the middle of getting on the toilet when the sphincter let go on her! She removed her underwear, got in the tub, and called me. The girl can hold a lot of pee, but at least it was in the bathroom and she remembered not to wade through it like a creek. What can you do except be a little cross about waiting too long, but also be so pleased that she followed a planned protocol all her own! If I hadn’t been so tired and on my last nerve, I would have been much less annoyed at clean up! Isolation can do that, because if another adult were around to take it all in with me, I would have been chest puffing and bragging while sopping up mega pee with a smile.

Jun 16
Itty Bitty had a big miss late in the day when we were home. She was on her way to the bathroom but miscalculated the distance to the door because she had to go the long way around since Daddy Man blocked the short way through the garage … again… with his tools in front of the door. We don”t have a back door direct to the backyard. She realized too late that she didn’t have the extra 30 seconds and as the dam burst she leaped off the walkway into the flower bed! I have to commend her efforts for trying not to leave a big puddle in a walking path. She look a bit mortified, but I was proud of her just the same for trying to find a solution! I now know to bring out her potty seat so that she doesn’t have to trek so far and I don’t have to disrupt her brother to follow her because there is no direct site line to the front door (she can open the door herself, we just don’t have a fenced yard and I don’t like not being able to hear or see her exit or enter the house).

Getting Out Even in the Rain is Key to House Harmony and Mommy Sanity

And that is all there is to report on Itty Bitty’s potty adventures. She is still dry all night long, waits to go to the bathroom downstairs in the morning unless it is urgent and she uses the potty I have out upstairs for just such an occasion. She takes care of her clothing, wipes her self (unless it is really messy then she asks for help), empties her potty, flushes the toilet, washes and dries her hands. She also empties her brother’s potty bowl, cues him when I do, and brings me fresh prefolds if I need them for him.

She is more…energetic and assertive…these days, but I know that’s because she doesn’t always get all her monkey energy out, misses her needed 3pm nap, or she wants more attention than I give or doesn’t want to wait to nurse…so it can spiral into Destructo Girl. I am still working on finding balance in an unbalanced world. I’m working on my volume. Damn if I don’t hear my mom’s tone of voice flying out of my mouth sometimes! I try not to so hard, but it just slips out like diarrhea of the mouth. Ugh! I’m working on finding my own words to push these negative reflexes out of service.

And…I just made my mammaries leak all over by thinking about nursing. I am not sure whether to be amused or annoyed.

Itty Bitty has had some trouble learning about boundaries. She is very affectionate and is a Space Invader (hahahaha) and doesn’t respect personal boundaries. I’ve had to talk to her daily about giving Mini Moose some breathing room because she wants to kiss him, pat him, hug him, touch him, stroke him, sing to him, and has discovered she can make him laugh. She’s having trouble expressing her displeasure over being asked to control her physical contact desires and has begun razzberrying/spitting in response. I’m working on finding words for her to use, but man it sure gets my hackles up! She’s only two and a half, I remind myself constantly. Itty Bitty recently encountered aggressive rejections of her overtures of hugs and kisses and pats and hand holding and overall “in your face” behaviors at our first “in house” play date. She got conked in the head by a toy and had her finger bitten. Of course, I’m not happy my Baby Girl got hurt, but at the same time it is an important lesson for her to learn about boundaries, reading body language, and accepting “no thank you” for an answer without crushing her loving spirit. She’s a very physical being and she just needs to develop some self-control. The other day she poked me with a plastic piece from the stem of a silk flower (on purpose) and my instinct was to take it and poke her hard with it because it really smarted when she did it…thankfully I stopped myself and she got startled at how fast I yanked it from her fingers and growled. Yep, I growled. It really hurt! She looked really upset and distressed and didn’t ask for it back.

I remind myself to find ways to express her desire to help rather than my causing a unnecessary power struggle by being Cranky Ogre Mommy.

Daddy Man barked at her once this month when she deliberately hit his laptop with a stick and scared her out of her skin (big voice he has…it can go right through you). I couldn’t see her at the time but I felt the fear and knew the look on her face before the first sound escaped her mouth and I even got to say, “You scared the crap out of her you need to comfort her and apologize.” before the most horrid horrified piercing cry escaped her mouth followed by fat tears! They made up immediately and Daddy Man has been very careful about his volume. It’s very important to me that when we screw up, that we apologize for being butts. His patience needs some refining when he gets annoyed, and he needs to relieve me more often (or rather at the right time and for a good length of time) so that I can have a chance to refill my big, fast depleting tank–especially when I haven’t had a chance to get out of the house (getting out is so important but it doesn’t always happen). And for goodness sakes man when you strip when you get home from work, FOLD…YOUR…PANTS! Ahem…sorry…sometimes you got to let out a little nag. Anyway, when I get to recharge I have such an easier time heading off potential toddler troubles and I love seeing the two them interact listening to music, him showing her how they work, her helping him build one, or just when they hang out and play their special games. She loves her Daddy Man and I do too!

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About Laissez Faire

I am 41, married with two children, and two cats. Writing is my hobby, and learning and teaching my passions. Books! It used to be that I could devour several books a week when I had the time. I am usually too tired to stray awake these days with two kids. Currently my brain and energy levels have steered me to casual games and some inconsistent blogging.